Classification of the 30 accidentsIn the report the 30 accidents are presented in four main groups:• Accidents involving cyclists and pedestrians (nine accidents), all in urban areas.• Accidents on road sections (eight accidents), all in rural areas, often on long, straight stretches of motorways or dual carriageways. These were mainly rear-end collisions or accidents in which the truck did not follow the course of the road and eventually drove off the road.• Accidents when crossing and turning (six accidents), all in rural areas and often on rural roads, mostly occurring when the truck turned into a road in front of another vehicle.• Accidents where the truck was accidentally hit (seven accidents) in rural areas. In these accidents the truck drivers or trucks played no part in causing the accident.

Key risk factor for the accidentsInsufficient awareness of other road users was the most common risk factor.

Insufficient awareness was the main cause of around 75% of the accidents studied (22 of the 30). This is a higher rate than the average of all accidents previously analysed by AIB, in which insufficient awareness was a factor in around only 50% of accidents. In two of the accidents studied, both parties to the accident lacked awareness of the other; in 14 of the cases it was the truck driver who was not sufficiently aware; and in the remaining six cases the counterpart was not aware of the truck.